Format

Open Bracket

The Open Bracket operates according to double-elimination format. Each series is a BO3.

A maximum of 208 players will play in the Open Bracket. Players that lose a series in the Open Bracket are dropped to the Losers part of the Bracket. Players that lose a series in the Losers Bracket are eliminated from the tournament.

16 total players will advance from the Open Bracket into the Championship Bracket. The 8 players who advance from the Open Winners Bracket are seeded into Group Play. The 8 players who advance from the Open Losers Bracket are put into Round 1 of the Championship Losers Bracket.

The 16 highest Open Bracket seeds (determined by MLG Rank and Qualifier results) will begin playing in Open Winners Bracket Round 5.

Group Play

Group Play consists of 8 seeds from the MvP Invitational, 8 seeds from the Invite-Only Qualifiers, and 8 seeds from the Summer Championship.

The 24 seeded players are divided into four even groups.

2 players from the Open Winner Brackets will be placed in each group.

Groups operate according to double-elimination format. Each series is a BO3, with the exception of rematches (extended series rule applies).

The results of Group Play determine where each player is placed within the Championship Bracket. No players are eliminated from the tournament in the Group Play stage.

Championship Bracket

The Championship Bracket is split into two halves, each with its own Winners Bracket and Losers Bracket (double-elimination format).

The Championship Brackets consist of 40 players total: the 32 players from Group Play, plus the final 8 players from the Open Losers Bracket.

Only the four Group winners are placed in the Championship Winners Brackets; the other 36 players begin at various stages of the Championship Losers Brackets.

Match history from earlier stages of the tournament (Open Bracket and Group Play) does not carry over to the Championship Brackets.

All series prior to the Semifinals are BO3.

If a Semifinal is a rematch of Championship Winners Bracket Round 1, then it will be a BO7 starting from the score of the first series (extended series rule).

If a Semifinal is not a rematch, then it will start as a BO3. If the player coming from the Losers Bracket wins the initial BO3, then the series will extend to a BO7 starting from the score of the first series. The winner of the extended BO7 advances to the Final Match. (The player coming from the Winners Bracket only needs to win the initial BO3 or the extended BO7 to advance.)